Tyler was walking toward the glass doors, getting more than a few looks from people on the sidewalk, when she stepped off the elevator. He wore a heather grey knit pullover and tan slacks that hugged him in all the right places. Emma groaned and hustled outside before he could reach for the door handle.
“I told you you didn’t have to come in. It’s not like this is a date.” He knew it, and she knew it, and she only had to make sure her body knew it. She would say the words aloud as often as possible to ensure her lady parts got the message.Especially when he smelled like that.
Tyler blinked. “Good evening, Emma.”
Her stomach swooped. His hair was still damp, curling around his ears, and the swelling was gone now. There was still bruising under his eyes, but somehow the blues and purples screamedI’m pumped full of testosterone! When I’m not fighting, do you know what I like to use it for?
Her biology was no better than a golden retriever staring at a frisbee. “Good evening, Tyler.” She walked faster.
“Thanks for doing this,” he said as they both settled into the truck. His smile was sheepish as he started the engine. “You were right, by the way.”
Emma clutched her purse in her lap. “About what?”
He flipped a U-turn. “This is proving my dad’s point.”
Emma exhaled and relaxed into the seat. “Well, asking you to be my fake boyfriend was kind of proving Sean’s, too.”
“How so?”
“He thinks I make terrible decisions.”
“Do you?”
“Clearly.” Emma stared out the window at a corgi in leather booties and a red sweater peeing on the streetlight. The perfect metaphor for her life at the moment.
Tyler tapped his fingers on the wheel. “Are you alright? You seem a bit tense.”
Emma didn’t answer. She did not want to talk about the studio sale on top of everything else, and her mind was fixating. “Sean thinks I’m oblivious, but I’m not. It’s not like I’m not trying.” Tyler was silent next to her. She drew a heart in the condensation from her breath building up on the glass.
“Here.” Tyler pulled a cup from the console and passed it to her.
Emma turned. “London Fog?”
“Hopefully you weren’t lying when you said you liked it the other night.”
“A cardinal sin. Never.”Though I lie about “appointments” to my best friends.She took a sip. “How are your ribs?”
“Feels less like a shard of glass is puncturing my side every time I inhale.”
“Hey, that’s all a person can ask for.”
Tyler chuckled. “Sean apologized, by the way. To the whole team.”
Emma’s jaw dropped. “Well.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Two apologies—regardless of whether they were motivated by Kelty’s hot rage—was something.
“I apologized, too.”
Emma frowned. “Why? You didn’t—”
“For letting his little sister corrupt me.”
Emma rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder. “I’m a convent nun compared to you, Bowen. Any corruption in this relationship is flowing in one direction.”
“You’re saying we have a relationship?”
Emma laughed, all the pressure in her chest beginning to fizz like a bottle of champagne. “Save your flirting for Ginger, please.”
“I don’tneedto flirt with Ginger.”
